Americans United - Connecticuthttps://www.au.org/our-work/grassroots/connecticut
enProselyting Punted: UConn Coach Who Promised To Bring Jesus Into The Huddle Has Resignedhttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/proselyting-punted-uconn-coach-who-promised-to-bring-jesus-into-the-huddle
<a href="/about/people/simon-brown">Simon Brown</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Now, before the Religious Right flips out over another case of supposed “Christian persecution,” let’s remember some things: Jones was hired to coach football, and he was contracted to do that for a public school. He wasn’t chosen to be the team’s pastor, nor did anyone tell him he couldn’t practice his faith on his own time.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>It seems Jesus won’t be joining the football team at the University of Connecticut after all.</p><p>This week, UConn Head Coach Bob Diaco announced that one of his newly hired assistants, Ernest T. Jones, <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/02/18/uconn-assistant-football-coach-who-said-jesus-christ-should-be-in-the-center-of-our-huddle-resi">will resign from the team</a> before coaching a single game at the university.</p><p>Jones, who was to be the team’s running backs coach as well as its director of “player engagement,” <a href="https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/huddling-with-jesus-uconn-football-coach-says-players-must-accept-christ-to">came under fire last month</a> when he said he wanted to bring Jesus into the huddle. While discussing his plans to develop his players spiritually, Jones was just a little too honest about his intentions.</p><p>“And we’re going to do things in our building, fellowship, non-denominational type things, players, coaches,” Jones said during a radio interview. “We’re going to make sure they understand that Jesus Christ should be in the center of our huddle, that that’s something that is important. If you want to be successful and you want to win, get championships, then you better understand that this didn’t happen because of you. This happened because of our Lord and Savior. That’s going to be something said by Bob Diaco. That’s something that’s going to be said by Ernest Jones. That’s who we are.” </p><p>UConn President Susan Herbst immediately cried foul, saying in a statement that “employees cannot appear to endorse or advocate for a particular religion or spiritual philosophy as part of their work at the university, or in their interactions with our students.”</p><p>That appeared to be the end of the matter until Diaco, who along with Jones last coached at the University of Notre Dame, announced abruptly that Jones would leave the school. In a statement, Diaco made no mention of Jones’ faith flub.</p><p>“Ernest has resigned his position effective immediately here at the university after deep introspection and reflection,” he said. “And<strong> </strong>it is entirely family and personally related.”</p><p>UConn’s athletic department confirmed Jones’ resignation in a statement, but offered no further comment.</p><p>Through a spokeswoman, Herbst made a similar play, saying the matter is closed.</p><p>It’s pretty hard to believe that Jones’ stated intent to proselytize had nothing to do with this sudden change of plan. Jones seems pretty committed to merging Jesus and football, and he has a track record of insubordination.</p><p>Back in 2008, Jones was the head coach at Alcorn State University in Mississippi, his alma mater, but was fired for “malfeasance and contumacious conduct” after only one season.</p><p>The university said Jones opened a bank account in which he deposited fund-raising money, even though he didn’t have the authority to do so. He also bought Russell Athletic shoes for his team even though the squad had an exclusive deal with Nike, then didn’t follow the proper procedure for cleaning up that $11,000 mess. Additionally, he reserved a hotel room for a game without permission.</p><p>Maybe UConn knew it had a potential First Amendment problem on its hands, and it cut ties with Jones before things got bad. After all, Jones has shown that he isn’t always interested in following the rules or obeying his bosses.</p><p>Now, before the Religious Right flips out over another case of supposed “Christian persecution,” let’s remember some things: Jones was hired to coach football, and he was contracted to do that for a public school. He wasn’t chosen to be the team’s pastor, nor did anyone tell him he couldn’t practice his faith on his own time.</p><p>If Jones wants to merge football and faith, then he needs to go back to Notre Dame or some other private religious institution. If he wants to work at a secular university in the future, he needs to remember that church and state are supposed to be separate in this country.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/school-prayer">School Prayer</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/university-of-connecticut">University of Connecticut</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/bob-diaco">Bob Diaco</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ernest-t-jones">Ernest T. Jones</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/susan-herbst">Susan Herbst</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/university-of-notre-dame">University of Notre Dame</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Location:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/our-work/grassroots/connecticut">Connecticut</a></span></div></div>Thu, 20 Feb 2014 16:01:43 +0000Simon Brown9667 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/proselyting-punted-uconn-coach-who-promised-to-bring-jesus-into-the-huddle#commentsHuddling With Jesus?: UConn Football Coach Says Players Must Accept Christ To Succeedhttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/huddling-with-jesus-uconn-football-coach-says-players-must-accept-christ-to
<a href="/about/people/simon-brown">Simon Brown</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">No public school employee should be actively working to coerce his or her students (or players) into accepting any religious belief. Jones’ job is to coach football, and that’s where his focus should be. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>A position coach for the University of Connecticut’s football team said he intends to add a new “superstar” recruit to the Huskies’ squad: Jesus Christ. </p><p>UConn, which is a public institution, <a href="http://marksilk.religionnews.com/2014/01/14/uconn-footballs-come-jesus-moment/">recently hired Ernest T. Jones</a> to serve as the team’s running backs coach and also as its director of “player engagement.” Since nobody would know what “player engagement” means without an explanation, Jones was kind enough to clarify.</p><p>“We develop [the players] socially, intellectually, spiritually, physically,” Jones said in a recent radio interview. “That’s what we’re going to do for these young people and [UConn Head] Coach [Bob] Diaco has allowed me to oversee the social and spiritual part of the development. I mean, this is big. This is a big part of our program.”</p><p>Spiritual development? That sounds problematic at a public institution. Worse, it turns out that Jones has a very specific type of spiritual development in mind – not to mention that he doesn’t seem to understand what the word “non-denominational” means.</p><p>“And we’re going to do things in our building, fellowship, non-denominational type things, players, coaches,” Jones said. “We’re going to make sure they understand that Jesus Christ should be in the center of our huddle, that that’s something that is important. If you want to be successful and you want to win, get championships, then you better understand that this didn’t happen because of you. This happened because of our Lord and Savior. That’s going to be something said by Bob Diaco. That’s something that’s going to be said by Ernest Jones. That’s who we are.”</p><p>We’re throwing a penalty flag on this idea. No public school employee should be actively working to coerce his or her students (or players) into accepting any religious belief. Jones’ job is to coach football, and that’s where his focus should be. </p><p>Then again, Jones’ attitude shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given that the former Alcorn State University (Mississippi) wide receiver’s last job was as director of player engagement at the University of Notre Dame.</p><p>Although when it comes to Jesus, Jones may be more likely to talk the talk than walk the walk. Back in 2008, Jones was the head coach at his alma matter, but <a href="http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/09/04/60841.htm">he was fired</a> for “malfeasance and contumacious conduct” (essentially going rogue) after just one season.</p><p>More specifically, the university said Jones opened a bank account in which he deposited fund-raising money, even though he didn’t have the authority to do so. He also bought Russell Athletic shoes for his team even though the squad had an exclusive deal with Nike, then didn’t follow the proper procedure for cleaning up that $11,000 mess. Additionally, he reserved a hotel room for a game without permission.</p><p>I don’t know if Jones asked for Jesus’ help with that Alcorn State squad, but his team finished 2-8. He later sued for wrongful termination, but <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3865330">the case was dismissed</a>.</p><p>As for UConn, there is a sense of urgency given that the football program has been mired in mediocrity for some time, posting an overall 87-93 record since 1999. But it’s safe to say that spirituality isn’t the reason the team hasn’t succeeded. And Jones’ plan is only going to make matters worse.</p><p>Fortunately UConn’s president, Susan Herbst, quickly recognized that Jones was way out of line. In a statement, she said school employees <a href="http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10294469/uconn-president-takes-issue-assistant-coach-religious-comments">are forbidden from endorsing religion</a> and that all students should feel welcome at the school. She’s exactly right, and we hope this will be the end of the matter. </p><p>But Jones needs to be watched. <a href="http://www.uhnd.com/history/touchdown-jesus/">“Touchdown Jesus”</a> may have been a symbol at Notre Dame, but that should not be the case at any public university. If Jones can’t accept the reality that he has to be inclusive, he may soon face a very hard hit from the U.S. Constitution. </p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/school-prayer">School Prayer</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/uconn">UConn</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ernest-t-jones">Ernest T. Jones</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/university-of-notre-dame">University of Notre Dame</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/touchdown-jesus">Touchdown Jesus</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/susan-herbst">Susan Herbst</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/bob-diaco">Bob Diaco</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alcorn-state-university">Alcorn State University</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Location:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/our-work/grassroots/connecticut">Connecticut</a></span></div></div>Fri, 17 Jan 2014 15:36:03 +0000Simon Brown9575 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/huddling-with-jesus-uconn-football-coach-says-players-must-accept-christ-to#commentsPrayer at government meetings questionedhttps://www.au.org/media/in-the-news/prayer-at-government-meetings-questioned
<div class="field field-name-field-news-source field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Danbury News-Times</div></div></div>Thu, 30 May 2013 14:35:03 +0000Joseph L. Conn8466 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/media/in-the-news/prayer-at-government-meetings-questioned#comments